Cherry Grenadine | The School for Good & Evil

"The unpicked Evers were ready for a slumber party, with pillows, blankets, baskets of spinach mousselines, creamy chicken crepes, bell pepper skewers, elderflower custard, and pitchers of cherry grenadine." 

—Chapter 20, The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

          You may remember a while ago I hosted a youth book club for Soman Chainani's young adult novel The School for Good and Evil and this was the drink I shared, inspired by the book (I also made a few other treats including flourless blueberry bran muffins which you can find the recipe for here).           This recipe is super simple and centers around the kitchn's homemade grenadine syrup as the base. Did you know that "grenadine" is French for pomegranate? Chances are, that grenadine stuff you find in the store is all artificial with high fructose corn syrup as the main ingredient (if you live in the US, that is) and has no pomegranate in it! Making your own syrup is easy and you can use it to liven up various drinks, and even drizzle on ice cream. I decided to add it to Sprite (because Sprite is clear and has a hint of citrus, as well as bubbly like some of the Evers), and then add in a touch of maraschino cherry juice, and a cherry to each glass. It makes a fun drink that would be great for a slumber party, even if it's a slumber party with no slumbering, at the edge of an ominous forrest, waiting to see if your friends make it out of a potentially fatal exam alive.

Ever Cherry Grenadine

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Ingredients:
1 Cup 100% Unsweetened Pomegranate Juice (such as POM)
1/4 Cup Sugar
~2 Tbsp. Fresh Lemon Juice
2 Liter of Sprite
10 oz. Jar of Maraschino Cherries, with stems

Directions:
1. In a small-medium pot over medium heat, bring the pomegranate juice & sugar to low boil & cook until the sugar is melted. Continue to cook until until the mixture thickens slightly, & then remove from the heat & let cool. Stir in the lemon juice.
2. Pour the Sprite into a large pitcher, pour in the grenadine syrup + about half of the juice from the jar of cherries, & then stir to combine. If you'd like more cherry flavor, add more of the juice to taste. When serving, plop a maraschino cherry into each glass.
Suggestion: If you'll be taking the drink on a picnic or simply to another location, don't put the Sprite into a pitcher, but use a funnel (if you have one) & carefully pour the grenadine syrup & cherry juice into the bottle of Sprite. Swirl it around (don't shake!) to combine.

* For more School of Good and Evil food, try Sophie's Flourless Blueberry Bran Muffins! *